The Stepping Stones course started last Thursday. It comprises three 2.5 hour sessions on three consecutive Thursday evenings. I try to keep the talking to a minimum to allow the maiximum time for practical activities. Each attendee has a ring binder with material referred to both from my introductory presentation and the activities as well as access to a course forum that I have set up with a lot of the same material and extra information and useful links. I've used a course area on the school VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) and made it private to the course attendees and the school science technician team. I've opened a forum facility within it as well as a message/chat facility and Quickmail. There is so little time to get everything across and this is my way of enhancing the time available. It has been an awful lot of work and I'm reallly pleased when an attendee actually posts. I think many of them are not accustomed to forums and the like, as well as having little if any experience of working in a secondary school or lab, so it's probably asking a lot of them. I've had some really encouraging responses and that keeps me going!
As well as all the prep for the above, the raw unroomed timetable has just plopped into my email. We're starting a two week timetable in September. First impression, not too bad, afternoons lighter than expected. Closer inspection - ugh - it's going to be much more complicated making sure the groups and teaching staff all have their fair share of timetabled labs rather than classrooms. It will take most of Monday for sure!
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so, who exactly attends this course? sounds like fun.
ReplyDeleteIt's for people who want to be school science technicians. They are mostly women whose youngest is in Year 6 and they haven't worked for a few years. All sorts of backgrounds workwise and educationally. Some are really bright but most have very low confidence. They really enjoy having a go at the practical work whatever they go on to do in the end. We have 4 out of about 24 working as science technicians in local schools now.
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