Unit 5 Reflective Account
Am gonnae push ma luck here an suggest thit among the maist creative genre of creative writin surley his tae be students’ assessment scripts! In terms o imagination, if no theoretical accuracy, they haud a high rank.
The shift tae adoptin this context fur ma Reflective Account his been brough aboot mainly due the continued logistical problems a hiv encountert wi these application tasks an the student cohort a hiv focussed oan.
In addition, a latched on tae the comments in wan ae thi Model Answers which highlightit Linda Bruce’s comments oan mental distress and the socialisation process’ impact oan thi yuyise ae Scots. This is precisely thi contexts ma students ur wurkin fae. Whilst a teach a mental health unit, a double credit at Level 6, mental wellbeing an distress ur ripe fur considerations during oor foray intae Scots an wan a fully intend tae develop furur.
This lessun focusset oan resources available tae candidates tae deepen thur unnerstaunbin ae Scots an, importantly, its yuise in the classroom an professional lives. A’ve attached a coapy o the PowerPoint presentation. During thi lesson we emarkit oan an acitvity (also attached). This drew upon Scots wurds we hid encounterit afore. A wantit tae encourage thi candidates tae explore thur ain meanins an thi connotations they attachit tae these wurds. A kin see how in thi long-term a cud encourage creative ritin an, a think, this is a way fur me tae develop oor yuise ae Scots.
Hoever, At this point it is pertinent tae reflect ower ma logistical problems as hintit at above.
A teach adult returners. Alang wi thur pre-existing domestic and relationship commitments they ur also in the throes ae yooni offers (Thi class a huv focussed oan ur a Scottish Wider Access Programme; Access tae Social Wurk (SWAP)) group. Soam o these SWAP students ur gettin thur ideal offers, we hiv fower yoonis in oor area offerin Social Wurk unnergraduate courses. Ithers are being rejectit or hiv shiftit thur ain thinkin; pursuin Humanities an sic lik. Mony ae them, especially thi wans bein rejectit ur voatin wi thur feet-hopefully this is a temporary state o affairs. This resultit in thi class stairtin wi five candidates and wis quickly reduced tae three when twa candidates realised thit a wis gaun ower Scots tae assisit thir assessment; they hid aready focussed thur responses oan ither techniqueds evident in the assessment subject piece.
Nanetheless, an undaunted, thi three amigos an masel embarked oan thi class. Thi original plan wis tae produce a short piece; a personal reflection or a flyte at masel. Given thi numbers tho, a'm hoppin a hiv convinced twa ae them tae yuise Scots oan thir scripts. In oither wurds, tae anser the task in Scots. This is a furst fur me an a sincerely hope they rise tae the challenge. In addition tae thi resources a explore in the presentation a hiv reassured thi concerns ower spellin; a hiv disclosed ma ain attempts tae them an reflectit ower thi advice in the Unit tae tri tae be consistent.
Whilst a’m grateful fur the reminder ae Gibbs Reflective Cycle an, a course this is yaised extensively in healthcare profeshional contexts, A hiv a tendency tae draw upoan Critical Incident Analysis (CIA) fur ma reflective practices. This form is widely yaised in Social Wurk circles an his been particularily useful tae me ower the years.
Ma analyses huv exposed ma ain lack ae consistency a a fundamental an critical theme emergin fae ma reflection an analyses ae incidents. Scots his tae be mair embedit in ma general treachin an, specifically in thi Literature 1 unit a deliver tae this cohort, yaised throughout the Support Pack ah hiv creatit tae support thi unit. In addition a hiv tae broach the notion mair strongly.
Whilst a dae introduce Scots early oan, it gets left by the wayside whilst we pursue ither themes an techniques. A also hiv tae rejig the Support Pack tae not onli bolster the yuise ae Scots but also bring in creative ritin.
Dodie's Phenomenal Pheesic
Dodie’s Phenomenal Pheesic with P5 class
Character description of Granny
Because I had read Da Trow, the Shetland version of The Troll by Julia Donaldson to the bairns a few weeks ago as part of world book day I felt confident reading a longer text in Shetland. I knew the pupils would be interested in more Shetland reading/writing as I received positive feedback from the bairns following Da Trow activities.
The class were interested in the story as many were already familiar with George’s Marvellous Medicine. I also had enough copies of Dodie’s Phenomenal Pheesic so they could follow along if they wanted to.
Reading the chapter took longer than reading it in English as we had a lot of discussions about the meanings of words and phrases.
pupils looked back over the chapter for descriptions and we gathered the words on the board including ones we were not familiar with. Pupils enjoyed using the Shetland app on the ipads to search the meanings of words. We don’t have many copies of Shetland dictionaries in school so having the app installed on the ipads is making it more accessible for pupils to write and understand Shetland.
For Da Trow story, pupils drew and labelled pictures of the Trow with Shetland words, so I thought this time I would get pupils to write a description of Granny in Shetland
Using the bank of words on the board pupils wrote short descriptions but due to other commitments, I wasn’t in class for the whole writing part and I felt pupils rushed this to get onto the next job.
I would have liked more time. Not being their class teacher and with timetabling restrictions etc means that I have limited time to work with them and it reflected in the writing. Some of the bairns did write good descriptions but I would have liked to have been there for the duration so I could have supported their writing more.
I would like to continue with the story and adapt the activities by Christine De Luca and the resource by Bruce Eunson for Geordie’s Mingin Medicin with the class, so I will have to discuss that with the class teacher.
I would invite pupils to read parts of the story in Shetland, this would increase their confidence and hopefully encourage them to choose to read books in Scots or Shetland. I am also interested to see if pupils find it easier to write descriptions in English first, then translate or writing then in Shetland.
I didn’t use it for this lesson but I have previously used a word dump with an older class similar to Matthew Fitt, it was a good way to get pupils thinking and recognising the words they already know. I would definitely do it if I was following up this lesson and then after each chapter so it’s a working gallery of words for pupils to use.
To raise awareness of Scots in the curriculum with parents I put up a display for our Primary open day at the end of term. I displayed some of the pupils work from Da Trow and Dodie’s Phenomenal Pheesic and wrote the captions in Scots for pupils and parents to read. Another class teacher had recordings of pupils’ translations of traditional tales for parents to watch by QR code. A few parents have told me that their bairns are speaking about the activities I’ve been doing with them at home, which is pleasing. Some classes are also taking part in the local writing competition with a few opting to write in Shetland. In another year, it would be good to see more pupils entering stories written in Shetland.