Professional Goals and Reflection on Placement – Page 5

Reflection on Placement

In a profession, such as teaching it is important that we continually self-assess ourselves. I began my first school placement with the intent of identifying my strengths and areas for development with regards to my overall communication skills. I was matched with a school in a relatively socially deprived area which I found quite challenging … Continue reading Reflection on Placement →

Placement Reflection

I found it extremely difficult during placement to find my place in the classroom. The last thing I wanted to do was to step on the teachers toes. I wasn’t keen on disciplining pupils in her class, as it felt like I would be undermining her authority. Eventually – with the teachers help – I quickly found … Continue reading Placement Reflection →

Eventually – with the teachers help – I quickly found my voice in the classroom and found myself at ease. One of the main things I have come to realise is that teaching is most definitely my comfort zone.

One of my communication strengths is the ability to connect with the pupils and to convey my instructions effectively. Whilst on placement I was often asked to take reading groups, and one day I was asked to run a learning activity about addresses on envelopes. It was my responsibility to engage the pupils and to assist them in learning how to write an address. In order to do this, I had to make sure that my instructions and my explanations were crystal clear. During this activity, my mentor assessed me against the mentor evaluation checklist. She was very impressed and highlighted that my instructions were good.

Also highlighted in the evaluation is my good use of questioning the children, but the teacher highlighted that this could be developed further by providing more in depth questions to the children and really making them think. I feel I can develop in this area by questioning myself all the time – really understanding why things happen. Also with some practice; I’m new to teaching so of course I’m not going to be ‘the best teacher ever’.

During my time on placement, I learned more than I can say I imagined to. I was given so many ideas about how to engage learners in mathematics, literacy and how to engage them in the world around them. One of the main ideas that I was intrigued in was the use of video to engage in number songs and literacy rhymes.

Overall I would have to say that placement was an amazing and overwhelming experience. I am now telling myself more than I ever did – “This is the job for me.”

Sean

Reflections on Placement

I carried out a one week placement in a primary school which gave me great insight into the environment of a primary teacher. This definitely increased my confidence and has really inspired me and confirmed in my mind that this is what I want to do in life. I spent my week observing from primary … Continue reading “Reflections on Placement”

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 was a very worthwhile experience for myself. It was great to see how another school worked, how it was ran and the moral of the teachers in the school. I felt as though one week was far too short. When I first saw all the placement tasks that we had to complete I really […]

meaning-ring-be-a-reflective-thinker

Placement was a very worthwhile experience for myself. It was great to see how another school worked, how it was ran and the moral of the teachers in the school.

I felt as though one week was far too short. When I first saw all the placement tasks that we had to complete I really did panic and wonder how I was going to get them finished on time and give them all as much attention as the next. I felt as though, especially task 5, was a huge challenge. It was only on Thursday I felt I had enough information to start observing certain children’s language differences – strengths and weaknesses – which then didn’t really give me loads of time to really observe them properly and understand why they may have these differences.

The overall experience of the school was great. I felt comfortable and appreciated which really boosted my confidence and allowed me find out information I wanted to know by asking questions and not feel silly about anything I said as I was there to learn. The school was very supportive of me, giving me loads of opportunities to develop my skills within the classroom and school setting.

Strength

I feel my main strength would be my presence in the classroom and how to engage and interact with the children. A couple of years ago I started a 12 week block placement with college and felt as though my first impression in front of the children was not the strongest. I ended up being more of a friend than a teacher because I wanted the children to like me which I feel is normal although this was changed when I worked in an after school care. I learned the I had to develop a ‘teacher-aura’ rather than a friendly relationship and I feel this really showed throughout my week in placement.

The evidence I have to support this would be through my verbal and non-verbal communication. I spoke confidently to the children and groups of children and constantly reflected on volume, pitch, tone and speed. The children would listen to my instructions and follow them giving me a good demonstration of how effective my communication skills were throughout the week.

Area of Most Progress

The area I progressed in the most, I would say was learning to change the way I speak to benefit my audience. I was with Primary 1 and learned that slower, clearer instructions were needed to enhance the children’s learning. I also found that enthusiasm was the key to keeping the children engaged and on task.

I also used this when talking to other members of staff around the school. I got a great understanding of the conversations that go on between teachers and how they help each other out, its not just everyone for themselves which was positive and reassuring to see.

Area Requiring Progress

From peer and self observation I would say the area that requires progress would be allowing children more of a chance to answer/writing/speak before offering help or support. I noticed that the combination of becoming mildly impatient when someone doesn’t know an answer and wanting to help everyone isn’t great. I felt I was too quick to do things for them without letting the children use their own initiative.

Action Plan

My action plan is to take a step back and allow children to be more independent, especially the young children. That is the one of the ways that children learn the difference between right and wrong. I feel like I need to work on my patience and self control, encouraging children when answering instead of answering for them.

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”

Pre-placement nerves

2.1.3 Have knowledge and understanding of planning coherent and progressive teaching programmes / 3.1.1 Plan coherent, progressive and stimulating teaching programmes which match learners’ needs and abilities

2.1 Curriculum / 3.1 Teaching and Learning Target: 2.1.3 Have knowledge and understanding of planning coherent and progressive teaching programmes. Target: 3.1.1 Plan coherent, progressive and stimulating teaching programmes which match learners’ needs and abilities. Rationale: “Recognition of the powerful active nature of … Continue reading →

2.1 Curriculum /
3.1 Teaching and Learning

Target: 2.1.3 Have knowledge and understanding of planning coherent and progressive teaching programmes.
Target: 3.1.1 Plan coherent, progressive and stimulating teaching programmes which match learners’ needs and abilities.

Rationale:

“Recognition of the powerful active nature of our selective attention makes it very clear why it is vital that activities intended to help young children must first and foremost interest them, intrigue them and be personally relevant for them” (Whitebread, 2002, pp.123—124).

“How do I divide time, resources, and myself so that I am an effective catalyst for maximising talent in all my students?” (Tomlinson, 2014, p.2)

To be an effective teacher, lessons must be relevant and accessible to all learners. During this placement I would like to enhance my skills in providing this experience.

Professional Actions:

2.1.3:
- Know how to plan for effective teaching and learning across different contexts and experiences;
- Know and understand how to justify what is taught within the curricular areas in relation to the curriculum and the relevance to the needs of all learners.
3.1.1:
- Plan appropriately for effective teaching and in order to meet the needs of all learners, including learning in literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing and skills for learning, life and work.

Action Plan

Week 1 – Planning

Revisit lesson planning inputs from class;
Seek class teacher’s feedback on my lesson planning.

Week 2 – Planning

Reflect on peer’s feedback on my lesson planning.

Week 3 – Relevant Planning

Engage in wider reading around contextualisation;
Seek to apply context to a lesson planned for this week.

Week 4 – Relevant Planning

Engage in wider reading around progression;
Reflect on my Week 1-2 Maths lessons and consider how progression could have been improved;

Week 5 – Relevant Planning for All Learners

Engage in wider reading around differentiation;
Differentiate a lesson this week, pitched correctly for all leaners’ abilities.

Week 6 — Relevant Planning for All Learners

Research life skills development appropriate to P4;
Embed at least one life skill development into a lesson this week.

Reflections

Week 1

I referred to all of the lesson planning inputs before writing my own plans. This was particularly helpful in establishing rationale.
The class teacher provided very positive verbal feedback on the plan I shared with her. She considered it to be comprehensive, clear and well thought out. The learning intentions, success criteria and assessment were considered to be appropriate.

Week 2

The feedback from my peer suggested including more detail in the Rationale/Context areas. I will work with the Class Teacher to develop this during Week 3 and gain a sound understanding of context and prior learning that I can demonstrate in this section.
My peer also suggested that my introduction was focussed on recap and could be more exciting. I will take this on board.
I will work towards making my Success Criteria as specific as possible in response to my peer’s feedback.