Week 3 - phew!

I think the session went well, apart from a few teething problems. The students seemed to know what they were doing with the Macs, so that side was much smoother than I'd anticipated. Thanks, Jane, for getting them going during the first two sessions! Sian and I quickly decided we needed the microphone after all, after foolishly thinking we could manage without. It was fine when the students were silent, but even a low hum of noise easily drowned our voices. Feedback to the SCALE-UP project team - invest in more microphones. We could have done with one each, and I'm sure we not the only ones team teaching. Jane was brilliant in passing on tips for improving our delivery - have all links for resources the students are going to use set up in NOW; wander round with the mic when getting feedback. I was really impressed with how the students listened to the activity briefings and how they seemed to engage with the tasks. It was quite difficult to check they all did what we asked, as it took ages to get round them all (and there were only 52 in today's session). It felt as though the room was almost full so I was surprised at the number. The students seemed to enjoy using Padlet, and picked it up pretty quickly. A few of them were happy to engage with the feedback discussions, and they all listened, even if they felt a bit shy in shouting out answers. One of my colleagues who was observing was impressed by the fact the students answered our questions, so that was good positive feedback. I didn't have time to chat to the new Digital Assistants at the end, which was a shame as I'm interested to know what they thought of it all. I'll find out when I see them on Wednesday. All in all, it was enjoyable. I felt shattered afterwards, and my feet ache, but I feel positive about the experience. I felt as though the students really did take control of their learning.