I hate lesson planning...:(

[HauntedLittleLunatic]

I'm a PGCE student so still taking me well over an hour to plan 1 lesson :(. I am crap at using other peoples resources...I want to do everything my way and have invented so many wheels but mine all seem to be square and aren't exactly doing the job they are designed to do :(

All my plans seem to get ripped to shreds by my mentor so I am planning everything twice :(

I am starting placement again tomorrow (after failing to complete last year due to extenuating circumstances) - first teaching on Weds. I hate these first few lessons the most until I get half a handle on where the kids are at in the specifications/level of knowledge.

For AQA they need to know how copper is extracted from ores and purified from waste. So they need all three methods. And be able to discuss pros and cons.

And then there is bioleaching...

....and phytomining...which I know oh so much about...

And thankyou alll soooo much....

I find that bouncing ideas when lesson planning helps me clarify whats good and whats not.

When I am sitting here at 2am there is no-body to boiunce off...

A total tag on. If you find some fab way of covering them, let me know!

I sometimes am here at 2am...

PGCE is horrid. It does get better once you get through it! I know what you mean about the procrastination, too - sometimes my best lessons are the ones that I spend less time on.

I've taught the AQA B1 stuff, although not that recently as we switched boards. There were a couple of good resources on the Upd8 site that I used, might be worth a look?

Oh yes I keep meaning to sign up to that one.

Right I am thinking of switching things round.

Iron
Alloys
Aluminium
Copper (2 lessons, cos quite a lot of bits to cover)

That way I can contrast aluminium extraction with iron.
Then I can say that copper uses smelting then eletrolysis or displacement, possibily do the overnight displacement which will take minutes to set up but they can see how easy it can be to purifiy. Also gives me a chance to clarify recommendations from teacher about copper. I think a practical would help brake up the bookwork.

Right I have 3 more plans to do tonight

Can I make a suggestion? You mentioned going over the rules and telling them they're just as important with you as with the usual teacher. I'm not convinced this is the right way to assert your authority. They should take it as read. I would just introduce myself and then get on with it. As soon as a pupil tests you (they're all toddlers at heart ) you demonstrate that you expect certain standards of behaviour.
It's also good that you've recognised that you tell them too much. Addressing this might help with timing and might mean you only have to tweak plans rather than rewriting them.

Personally, I would start off by recalling the reactivity series and displacement reactions. If you want to demo iron displacement of copper, it works straight away - you don't have to leave it overnight - and it's easy enough for the students to do themselves.

Then I would cover ores and pure metals, and build a historical timeline.

Next, I would do the less reactive metals - describe iron ore reduction but carry out a copper ore reduction.

Then I would move onto the more reactive metals - I would describe electrolysis but not do the experiment as this is covered in detail elsewhere, and you can't really replicate the industrial process in the lab. A key learning is that it takes huge amounts of energy for electrolysis, and this would not really be impressed upon them with a bench experiment.

Then I'd move onto alloys and smart alloys.

Finally, recycling.

We don't do the bio and phyto stuff, but I would probably fit it after electrolysis.

If you are not sure whether an experiment wil. Work, you must practise it before hand (you need to practise the reliable ones too, putting yourself in the shoes of your students). You can probably find plenty of clips on YouTube to guide you if you aren't getting the support in school.

Is this demo any use?

www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/wiki/Lab:Turning_copper_coins_into_'silver'and'gold'

OK - tropisms. I do a couple of demos with cress to show phototropism (in a box with a hole) and gravitropism (stick it on its side). There are video clips on Youtube - for example:

[]

I use this animation on the whiteboard:
[http://www.kscience.co.uk/animations/auxin.htm]

And there are some practicals which I keep meaning to try, but have not done as we always seem to be short of the time available to do them, so they come with a "looks good but not tried it" warning.

gravitropism with dandelions
[http://www.saps.org.uk/secondary/teaching-resources/677-investigating-gravitropism-with-dandelions-practical-experiment]

onion maze
[http://archive.planet-science.com/sciteach/index.html?page=/experiment/expts/amazeing_onions.html]

hanging carrot garden of babylon
[http://archive.planet-science.com/about_sy/news/ps_126-150/ps_issue143.html]
old link! scroll down.

I am very sorry about that post, one day I will learn how to do links.

Cool. I had found the the animation. I also have a boardworks presentation which is pretty good. It's still just chalk and talk tho. Good to know that there is nothing better.

Easiest way to do links - Paste it in. Nothing fancy and tick the button under the text box which says "convert links automatically"

I have never noticed that box before. It's just there though, isn't it? I am an idiot.

It's not always been there.

Used to have to do wierd link{/www......] thingumies that were a right pain in teh arse. Now we have a nice little tick.

Times change. Things get easier. I live in the hope that Lesson planning will do the same. I was going to bed at 10pm. I still have 2 plans I want to write tonight (they are written in my head tho...and don't think I have any resource prep to do...just need to put it on paper and think of a plenary/starter to go in the middle).