I am presently thinking about how a primary school can assess its pupils for Gifted ad Talented status in Design Technology. Sport, maths and other G&T areas are fairly simple, but what are you measuring for D&T?
I have chosen to pick three areas: Manual Dexterity, tested through assembling a simple kit, Organisation through how well they plan the kit assembly, and design through their proposed and recorded amendments to the kit.
This is a new activity in my consultancy but it builds upon the concept of Technology Education being about identifying needs and producing solutions.
As for what kit they will assemble, it is likely to be a simple Meccano clone. Spanners ready!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Engineering Centre Garden
Part of my weekly work is to be business and development manager of the only school based engineering centre in the country. The centre has only been open a few months and was still being sorted when it opened. Now an area at the front of the building is being turned into a 'garden' and seating area for visitors and young people being trained there.
So, I am asked about plants for the centre and immediately we see probelms. Blackberries are good as they are food plants but quickly the walls and carpets would turn purple.
Pyrocanthus would be a good choice as it is spiky and evergreen but would require care as again, the berries can be used for ammunition!
In the end we are going to choose a variety of plants but it is a good chance to realise that design is in every decision, not just the ones relating to hard materials!
Moan at the darkness
This is the first blog so here's to the future!
I ran an INSET this week for 11 people. As I am not a primary teacher, I feel it is wrong of me to give them in-depth schemes of work. As agreed with the client beforehand, the event focussed on analysing some QCA schemes to dump the verbiage and produce a clear concise list of 'objectives'.
Adding any stages necessary to turn it into a smooth flow gives you a rough scheme of work.
While planning for the event, I realised that the average QCA project is 1750 words long by itself. This doesn't include any DATA help files or exemplar work! And this is only one of many subjects a primary teacher will study to deliver.... Lets hope future curriculum reviews will recognise this.
The INSET also included a goodie bag for each participant. £10 worth of bits which will enliven teaching of DT without breaking the bank.... I will post the list and presentation on my website in June.
It was a hot day today in Nottingham and I took the group outside for half an hour. No power point and no teaching aids, just a circle of chairs and the sun in our eyes!
INSET is a time for reflection and discussion as well as learning. I have noticed recently that those teachers who should be in the best position to inspire their younger colleagues can sometimes major more on the downsides of teaching than the positives which can be very destructive when their younger colleagues are looking for reassurance.
I find teachers bemoaning their world and being less than open in taking on 'new ideas' difficult.
I spoke passionately but not necessarily eloquently about teachers needing to enjoy their subject, that fun was communicable to pupils and that we have to practise skills ourselves, much like we expect our pupils to, before we get better and gain confidence in new things.
Of course, it is much easier to preach these things than do them, it is easier to moan about the darkness..than light a candle!
I ran an INSET this week for 11 people. As I am not a primary teacher, I feel it is wrong of me to give them in-depth schemes of work. As agreed with the client beforehand, the event focussed on analysing some QCA schemes to dump the verbiage and produce a clear concise list of 'objectives'.
Adding any stages necessary to turn it into a smooth flow gives you a rough scheme of work.
While planning for the event, I realised that the average QCA project is 1750 words long by itself. This doesn't include any DATA help files or exemplar work! And this is only one of many subjects a primary teacher will study to deliver.... Lets hope future curriculum reviews will recognise this.
The INSET also included a goodie bag for each participant. £10 worth of bits which will enliven teaching of DT without breaking the bank.... I will post the list and presentation on my website in June.
It was a hot day today in Nottingham and I took the group outside for half an hour. No power point and no teaching aids, just a circle of chairs and the sun in our eyes!
INSET is a time for reflection and discussion as well as learning. I have noticed recently that those teachers who should be in the best position to inspire their younger colleagues can sometimes major more on the downsides of teaching than the positives which can be very destructive when their younger colleagues are looking for reassurance.
I find teachers bemoaning their world and being less than open in taking on 'new ideas' difficult.
I spoke passionately but not necessarily eloquently about teachers needing to enjoy their subject, that fun was communicable to pupils and that we have to practise skills ourselves, much like we expect our pupils to, before we get better and gain confidence in new things.
Of course, it is much easier to preach these things than do them, it is easier to moan about the darkness..than light a candle!
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