communication – Page 2

Reflection on Placement

I found that placement was very worthwhile and beneficial for myself. I found it very useful to see the different variations of methods that teachers use and how the theory of our lectures and workshops are put into practice and context. I found that primary schools have changed a lot over the years as there … Continue reading “Reflection on Placement”

I found that primary schools have changed a lot over the years as there is far more interactive learning an pupil involvement rather than copying and listening. It was great to see the way that children of different ages and abilities engaged with learning.

Overall, I enjoyed my placement, however I felt that one week was not enough to gain a lot of benefit from what we have been learning at university. I felt that this may have impacted on the ability to complete the eight placement tasks to a high standard as we had such a short time to gain and condense specific information relevant to the tasks. It was challenging as classes may not have been doing any lessons on what the literacy and mathematics tasks were referring to. It was also challenging, personally for me as teachers were asking me to work with groups within classes so it was difficult to observe a wider range of pupils.

I had a very positive experience as the school I was placed in made me feel extremely welcome and relaxed. I felt that the teachers wanted me there and so this boosted my confidence which impacted on my interaction with the children and staff. I also felt extremely comfortable asking questions in the school which was beneficial and useful on placement.

Strength –

I found that my main communication strength within the classroom was the way in engaged and interacted with children and teachers and the way that I was able to vary my vocabulary and different ways of engagement when speaking to different ages and different abilities of children. An example of this is when I was working with a reading group in P1 that were not as advanced with their phonic sounds and so I still included the action after saying the word that goes with the phonic in order to show them it physically written down in a word but did not need to with another group who were more advanced. I feel comfortable in engagement as I did previous work experience in a primary school. I also found that I took a bit of a back seat in my work experience and I was more of a peer to children rather than a teacher or authority figure. Evidence of this is that I was able to speak to children easily and confidently. I also found that children knew that I was a student teacher or an authority figure as they spoke to me respectfully and appropriately whilst still being able to talk about things outside of classwork. I feel that I have established the appropriate teacher-friend balance with children in the classroom setting.

Weakness –

I found that an area of development needing to be worked on is my tone and pitch. I found that teachers pointed out that I should vary my tone a bit more and be more dramatic when working with children to keep them more engaged and enthusiastic about their work. I also found that I need to avoid using ‘yip’ and ‘a’ instead of yes and I. I was not even aware that I overuse these errors in my language.

Area of most improvement-

The area I feel that I improved most upon was not using slang words when in the classroom. This was a huge challenge for me as I have been bought up using slang words my whole life. I also found that I was able to give more clear instructions to classes by avoiding using slang, especially in the infant classes. I slowed my pace down for the infants and seen a huge improvement of their interaction with me as they had a clearer understanding of what I was asking them to do.

Strategies-

I will form an actions plan to put in place from now onwards which will also help with my next placemen. As part of my action plan I will practice giving clear, paced instructions further and not use slang words to certain audiences and not as often in general. I will also practice varying my tone and dramatizing my actions in certain situations when working with children. I will also practice saying yes and I instead of ‘yip’ and ‘a’ when working with children. I could also ask my peers and teachers for advice of how to improve my weaknesses. Another way to improve my weaknesses is trying to imitate teachers tone of voice, expressions and reactions in certain situations.

Reflections on Placement

During the week beginning the 31st of October I worked with seven class teachers, a Principle Teacher, a Head Teacher, class room assistants, cleaning staff, and a janitor, as well as pupils from primary one to primary seven of a primary school. I completed eight placement tasks which were based on mathematics and literacy. These tasks allowed me to observe and analyse … Continue reading Reflections on Placement

Reflections on Placement

Placement definitely allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of how a school is run and what goes into a teachers daily routine. Starting on the Monday I was nervous about the new experience I was going to participate in. … Continue reading →

Reflections on Placement

As part of the situated communication module in BA1, I undertook a one week, whole school placement in a designated primary school. The school I was allocated to is of Roman Catholic denomination, located in an area of high deprivation, with a current roll of 137 pupils across a mix of single year and composite …

Continue reading “Reflections on Placement”

Reflections on Placement

Strength I believe that one of my strengths on placement was my communication skills, in particular, my listening skills. I was able to listen well to the instructions from class teachers as well as any queries by the children in the class which allowed me to adapt quickly to any situation. I used positive body … Continue reading “Reflections on Placement”

Reflections on Placement

I took part in a whole school placement as part of the BA1 Situated Communication module. I was placed in a rather small school of about 180 pupils with around 9 teaching staff as well as 5 teaching assistants. During the course of my week I was able to observe a number of different lessons and the techniques in how they were carried out. Although this placement was meant to be whole school, I spent my full week in a primary three class with a great teacher who I have learned so much from. I was met with several different challenges regarding myself and the pupils during this placement. Due to me lacking in confidence I had to overcome a number of obstacles in terms of my communication skills but I was given nothing but praise from my teacher and the teaching staff on the way that I conducted myself, despite me being terrified to start. I was able to witness the lectures at UWS come into play, with active lessons/learning and numeracy and literacy throughout the curriculum being explored in every lesson.

Strength

I found that my main strength was how I interacted with the students, staff and parent helpers. I spend my whole week in primary three, where I witnessed a number of different lessons/teaching techniques, as well as accompanying the class on a trip to the local hospital. During class time, it was primarily just myself and the class teacher (my mentor for the week) as well as the children. I was lucky enough to be given so many opportunities to improve my communication skills with not only the children, but with professionals as well. My teacher allowed me to take small reading groups, where I felt my ability to ask relevant questions and give adequate thinking time was increased. On the hospital trip, it was the class teacher, myself and two parent helpers. We each had a group of six children that we were put in charge of. It was my duty to ensure that each of the pupils were paying attention to what was going on, that their behaviour was good and that they treated the staff with respect. I got good feedback on how I conducted myself during this experience, especially on how I interacted with not only my little group, but also the parent helpers and the nursing staff. Due to me remaining in the one class all week, I believe that I developed a bond with the class teacher and the students. Each of the pupils treated me with the respect they gave their teacher, asking me for help and allowing me to explore and develop my skills in communication, literacy and mathematics.

Area of most progress

I feel that I made the most progress in my non-verbal communication. I am well aware that I am not the most confident individual but upon taking part in the situated communication module I have found myself evaluating and analysing my body language. I received excellent feedback on my ability to hold eye contact with the children and the use of my facial expressions and hand gestures to enhance the children’s engagement. In terms of body language, I used the theory, fake it till you make it. If I were ever in doubt I would stand with my hands on my hips or cross my hands together with my feet apart. This allowed me to re-evaluate my emotions and calm down before proceeding with the activity. However, towards the end of the week I no longer had to do that and found myself relaxed in the classroom environment. I also noticed that I began mimicking the teachers body language. This must have been a sub-conscious thing as I looked up to the teacher so much.

Area requiring progress

In terms of feedback, I was never given any solid evidence or anything that I needed to work on but I am well aware that I need to vary my tone more when speaking. To begin with I didn’t vary tone and kept my voice at an upbeat pitch but never having any change. I feel this made me look unenthusiastic toward the class or lesson although I could not be more involved than I was. This will come down my confidence again and the way in which I always feel judged but again, I found that towards the end of the week I was really going for it in regards to tone, I was changing my voice regularly and witnessed that the children were a lot more willing to engage with me.

Action plan

The majority of my developments stem from my lack of confidence however I am aware that is something that I am going to need to overcome. To ensure my enthusiasm is recognised I need to work on my tone. Though there is nothing in paper that I can do to help improve my tone, I can start interacting with people more. Having and holding conversations is one of the best things I can do. I could also read an extract from something a couple of times a week and film myself whilst doing so. That way I will be able to observe and record my progress and maybe even highlight other problems that I didn’t know existed.