All things to be signed by me are now coming on time - well done.

Mentor meetings from next week will be split into two so that I can give each of you more personal help. Tim if you arrive at 10-10 then Jay can come at 10-35. We will review how that goes... remember to make use of me at lunchtimes and breaks - I will understand if you need to 'talk shop' with me... we have very little contact time.

Jay - well done on improving your classroom presence. We now have to beef up the content of your lessons - to improve depth and breadth. To do this you really need to look at the background for topics and talk them through with staff. (Time prevented your demo on the motor going ahead - that will happen on Friday).

Tim - Mike said he was pleased with the lesson on Friday. Well done. We need to work on involving the pupils and deciding on what needs to be incorporated in the lesson - and what could be perhaps put in an extension info sheet. (Ensure you understand the simple DC motor for Friday)..  

Both of you -

For physics you will find that Cyberphysics gives a lot of background on most topics - if I am not in school when a query comes up - or if you are prepareing at home - e-mail me with queries!

You will not be able to 'teach' all of what is on the site or in a text book. Your lesson focus should be on parts of the topic that need to be understood (good knowledge of SOW and syllabus) - but you need the wider knowledge for the periphery work - being able to 'catch and run with' questions and comments they throw at you. Try not to ever ignore a question - but also beware of 'red herrings'.

There is a new section of cyberphysics that I am adding to at the moment - PowerPoints (accessed from the main page menu on the left hand side). Take a look at them. The carbon footprint one might be relevant...

Re - the APP with year 7 Chemistry here are some useful background links for you:

Particle model - Bitesize

Resource on Particles

Standards Site - Particle Model

National Strategies

Particle Models

I have not yet had the copy of the mentor meeting minutes from the last two sessions - I need to sign them - you should be sending a copy to John.

The first teaching week is over. I hope you are oth feeling more comfortable. in the school. I know this is the case for Jay, but have not spoken as much with Tim! I have the copy of my observation of Jay - but have not yet been given a copy of Mike's observation - it would be useful if I had copies of all observations. One of the things I am looking for is progress - response to suggestions etc. The copies of LO will help me with that.

I have asked Floss to observe you both officially next week - although I will be doing an observation on you this Thursday again Jay... not to go off to John but to help you continue to develop confidence.

We will be starting the work on the motor with Y11 on Friday - second lesson. I therefore want Tim to do the motor effect demo (copper swing within the poles of a permanent magnet) and Jay to demonstrate the little class motors. The following week they will 'play with the motors' in class - both of you will then have to help out as they encounter difficulties with the equipment and understanding what is going on. You will need to have a work with Adam and get this equipment out and have a play with it.

They will know that a current in a wire produces a magnetic field around the wire. I find that speaking in terms of interaction of two magnetic fields is a concept that they readily understand - Fleming confuses them a bit - start with the one - move on to FLHR.

I expect you to have:

• read up on the motor effect - click on the link!
• prepared diagrams/photos that you will talk through via the whiteboard - perhaps a printout of a diagram for their books that they add labels to? (We have a department digital camera - you could take close-ups of the equipment... or use digrams or both!)
• become confident in using and explaining the equipment in an engaging manner - pupil participation?
• prepared a question for them to tackle for homework on your part of the motor effect (each of you ask questions that will take about 15 minutes to answer).
• prepared a mark scheme for your question - make sure you know what you want! (Remember there are banks of past paper questions via the resources - make use of them - we do! - and/or use the vast array of text books within the labs).

This will be your 'task' for the week. I expect each of you to deliver this within 20 minutes.

I have ordered oscilloscopes for Tuesday period 3. I suggest you look at the page on using them before the lesson (there is a vid-clip on using one). I will deliver the material but then we will have small groups to have hands on experience with a sig gen and battery pack - you therefore need to be confident and understand the signals.

Jay - make sure you have planned your lesson for Thursday period 1 and ordered any equipment you may need for it. I would like to have your lesson plan for that lesson Tuesday period 2.

During the Friday lesson with Y11 I would like each of you to 'do a little spot' relating to the work we covered last lesson.

Jay I have prepared a PowerPoint on stability for you to use for Q&A activity with the class - exactly how you intend to use it is up to you - I have taken the questions from past GCSE questions and enclose a document with the mark scheme on it. You need to familiarise yourself with the topic and questions so that you can give a confident delivery of the material.

Tim I have prepared a PowerPoint on moments for you to use for Q&A activity with the class - exactly how you intend to use it is up to you - I have taken the questions from past GCSE questions and enclose a document with the mark scheme on it. You need to familiarise yourself with the topic and questions so that you can give a confident delivery of the material.

I will not usually be preparing materials for you to use - but this is your first week... I will be looking for confidence, clarity and good interaction with the pupils. I will not need a 'lesson plan' from each of you - but I will need objectives for the exercise, a list of key words you intend to reinforce and equations they will use and units etc.

I have added a couple of pages to the misconceptions section: colour and vision, sound, electricity and magnets you might find these useful to read through if you are planing for that topic.

I have also added a section on your pastoral duties. This should be helpful when being associated with a form.

Our mentor meetings will be held in room T2 from now on.

I have added a section called 'Teaching Resources' to this student area. I suggest you have a look through it before you return to school. It will help you identify resources in and out of school that may help you with lesson planning and delivery.

I organised this section of the site today to make it easier for you to use. Look at the new PGCE menu at the side.... it should help you find information a little quicker.

I have put together a couple of pages that should be helpful to you when you plan lessons

National Curriculum - has a broad overview of what goes into schemes of work (and why) at KS3 and KS4 and what you are expected to teach (all aspects)

How Science Works - has information about practical investigations and what the Government expects us to deliver when teaching about scientific experimentation.

See the page on safety - read this before you plan lessons for next half term. It summarises a lot of what we spoke of at the mentor meeting.

Click here for the lesson planning sheet given you by John and here for the sheet I have given to each member of staff you will be teaching for/with during this placement..

You will be involved with my lessons for the following groups:

Jay - 9S (27 girls) - the topic here with be heat travel - click on the link to take you to the interactive syllabus extract for that (they are starting the GCSE - they haven't done heat travel before).In the introductory week I will be finishing off the topic we are on at the moment - you will only have to observe the class and do a seating plan. This group range from grade C to A* in level. Look at the link below for a proposed teaching scheme. It includes suggested activities and equipment.

Both of you - are team teaching my Y11 (27 girls) with me - the first topic we will cover is moments - they met that in Y9 but need to bring it up to GCSE level.We will be doing that on Friday and the lesson after half term - HW being questions from the workbook. I would like you both to work on a demo for the topic of moments/centre of gravitythat could be inserted into the lesson on the Friday before half term.You will both have to do observations and make seating plans during that lesson too. This group range from grade C to A* in level.

Interactive syllabus link; topics covered by half term: circular motion, satellites, moments and centre of mass - the rest needs to be fitted into a medium term plan - 7 weeks of lessons to cover the material in 2 x 50 minute periods per week. Read through syllabus - extract keyy ideas and keywords - suggest demos and practical activities etc and then fit into a teaching scheme - to discuss with LJ after half term.

Both of you - are team teaching the lower sixth with me on Tuesday. This is my only lesson in the big lab - I hope to be getting them to use the micrometer screwguage, vernier calipers and metre rule. They need to be confident in making measurements - chosing the correct instrument and knowing its sensitivity. It will be good to have you in there as they will need personal attention and there are 15 of them to get round! I hope to involve you in developing their practical skills so familiarise yourself with the terminology used by the AQA board for practical investigations before the lesson. (Students to explain to class how to use the instuments and then help assessing how well the students use them - 9/2/10)

You will get a chance to meet up with the staff you will be teaching with/for during the preliminary week. remember to ask for a copy of the text book they are using and a copy of the test they will take at the end of the section you are teaching - it will give you an idea of the level they need to reach...