Reflections on Placement

Placement was an inspiring experience and enhanced my understanding of how a classroom environment works daily. Before starting placement, I was really excited and looking forward to new experiences as I love being in the school setting. Having seen the school’s website before starting my placement, gave me an idea of what the school ethic …

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Placement was an inspiring experience and enhanced my understanding of how a classroom environment works daily. Before starting placement, I was really excited and looking forward to new experiences as I love being in the school setting. Having seen the school’s website before starting my placement, gave me an idea of what the school ethic would be like. The website was very informative and interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the children and the staff in the school.

I was based in a Primary 2 class with my peer for the two weeks of placement, this was beneficial as I got to know the teacher and the children really well. I have had previous experience in a Primary 1 class and found it very interesting seeing the next stage up.

I quickly got into the daily routine of the class. The class teacher was in school around 8.15am every morning to prepare for the day ahead. Every Monday morning the teachers had a meeting with the headteacher for 15 minutes before the school day started at 9am.

Throughout the placement I observed many numeracy lessons. The teacher used a variety of songs that children sung along to, this helped portray the lesson content. The teacher constructed the end of the numeracy lesson with activity based learning, there were directed tasks that children could carry out through play to consolidate learning. The directed tasks included; using fake money and adding it together to make up a certain sum of money; shoe laces that numbers could be threaded on to make a calculation or number pattern (odd/even); numeracy jigsaw; and laptops with ‘sumdog’ and ‘education city’. The children all participated in the directed tasks and were engrossed throughout the activities.

In Primary 2, I perceived numerous, assorted literacy lessons throughout the two weeks. At the start of every week children would get a new list of spelling words. The first week was ‘ff’ words and the second week was ‘ll’ words. As a class the children sound out the word phonetically and then say it 3 times fully – this assists the children’s understanding of how the word forms. The children copy 3 of the spelling words directed by the teacher in their homework jotter and writes them again at home – this is done Monday to Wednesday. The children have a spelling test every Friday and peer assess each other after the test is complete. Children were introduced to a dictionary for the first time, this was a very interesting lesson to observe and the children understood how the dictionary worked, they demonstrated this through tasks directed by the teacher.

The Primary 2 pupils had PE once a week. It was a fantastic opportunity to observe how another teacher dealt with the same class. The children loved being active and releasing energy.

The subject of French is covered orally in Primary 1 to Primary 3. Primary 2 have covered days of the week, and numbers 1 to 10. They have just started to learn the months of the year. The subject French was presented by using songs. The teacher regularly used ‘très bien’ and other French phrases throughout the French lesson and other lessons therefore carrying French across the curriculum.

Overall, the teacher of Primary 2 was very helpful and assisted myself and my partner in anything possible. I feel I supported the learning taking place in class to my best ability and demonstrated effective communication skills. My experience in the staffroom was lovely and interactive, the staff are all very welcoming and interested to hear about our course at UWS. I feel I adapted to the school and smooth running of it and became very comfortable with my surroundings after the first day. I have extremely enjoyed my placement at the school, and will take all my experiences and observations into my future practice. The primary school, staff and my partner have all been very reassuring and supportive. Having more experience in a Primary School has made me realise that I truly want to pursue a career as as Primary Teacher.

Supplementary Task – Experiences at UWS

My experience at UWS so far has been thoroughly enjoyable. The first few weeks have gone in so quickly; I can’t believe we will be starting week 4 on Monday. I feel privileged to have a place on the BA Honours Education. At first, I was apprehensive about starting as I was unsure of what …

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My experience at UWS so far has been thoroughly enjoyable. The first few weeks have gone in so quickly; I can’t believe we will be starting week 4 on Monday. I feel privileged to have a place on the BA Honours Education. At first, I was apprehensive about starting as I was unsure of what to expect, and being one of the youngest students (17), I was uncertain of how I would fit in with student life.

Since starting the course, I have learned a great deal about myself and overcame my anxieties. The module Situated Communications has helped myself to come out of my comfort zone especially in the workshops; it has built my confidence considerably. In addition, I felt a little uncomfortable about the Mathematics for Understanding module as I never really liked Maths it was a subject I struggled with at school. But, with lots of challenging work and determination I managed to get a B in Higher Maths. After having a few weeks of Mathematics for Understanding lectures and tutorials, I feel more comfortable with Maths and I feel able to ask any questions if I do not understand a certain concept.

Overall, I feel I have settled in very well to the University of the West of Scotland and have met many wonderful and inspiring people.

 

My Experience as an UWS Student … So Far!

My experience of UWS so far has been pleasant. I have just started my third ‘official’ week here (excluding the induction week) therefore my experience is somewhat limited. Over the past few weeks I have learned a lot about myself, … Continue reading

My experience of UWS so far has been pleasant. I have just started my third ‘official’ week here (excluding the induction week) therefore my experience is somewhat limited. Over the past few weeks I have learned a lot about myself, and what will be expected of me over the next four years.

It is interesting as I thought I knew myself pretty well; however I learned something about myself I didn’t think was possible… I am capable of grasping Maths concepts! I have always had an anxiety when it came to Maths, and therefore when I found out that it was a core module and was assessed by an exam (which also brings great anxiety to me) I started to get a bit worried. When I walked into my second tutorial (Place Value and Number Base) I could feel the anxiety building up again. However, with the help of the lecturer and physical aids such as counting blocks I began to grasp how to calculate base values. Once I grasped the concept I stopped using the physical aids and even began helping other students! I feel I need to have more faith in myself, and that Maths doesn’t need to bring me the anxiety that it does.

Another module I feel like I have particularly benefitted from is the workshop in Situated Communication that is held in Performance Studio 3 a.k.a The Dungeon. Here we are pushed out of our comfort zones and expand the friendships we have already made. At first I found the class overwhelming as I am someone who hates having all eyes on them; however over the past few weeks my confidence has grown and I have become more comfortable with being in the lime light. I may take some of the exercises we have done into my future practice as it may help the children I will be teaching to build up their confidence. It is important to do this as the Curriculum for Excellence states that school must enable children to become ‘Confident Individuals’ (Scottish Government, 2009).

 

Reference List

Scottish Government (2009) curriculum for excellence building the curriculum 4 skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government.

Reflections on placement.

I attended Stanley Primary School in Ardrossan for my week placement in BA1. The school has 444 pupils and I was lucky enough to be able to work with a range of ages and pupils from various backgrounds. The school has four main aims: respect, commitment, caring and courage. This was shown to me through the … Continue reading Reflections on placement.

I attended Stanley Primary School in Ardrossan for my week placement in BA1. The school has 444 pupils and I was lucky enough to be able to work with a range of ages and pupils from various backgrounds. The school has four main aims: respect, commitment, caring and courage. This was shown to me through the … Continue reading Reflections on placement.

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