This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Strengths / areas with the most progress
During my time on placement I noticed that when I talk to primary 1 the pitch within my voice is a lot higher compared to the pitch, I have with primary 7, I think this is due to how young the children are, it just comes naturally like it does with a baby. I also noticed having a higher pitched tone was more of an approachable voice for younger children as it doesn’t appear threatening which allowed them to feel more comfortable to answer with questions I was asking. I thing I tended to see a lot was that no matter what stage the child was at they still seemed unsure on certain aspects and had to ask the teacher to reassure them. This further links to whenever a child would ask me a question, I tended to reply back with a question which would allow them to figure out the answer without actually telling them it, this then was followed by another set of questions which allowed the child to expand on their original answer. I found this technique most effective as it allowed the children to do all the thinking without the answer being given to them, it also allowed the child to think beyond their first answer and really think about what they are doing but also will prevent the child continuing to ask more questions as you have already helped them answer them which could save time in the long run and allow it to be spent with other pupils struggling. When it comes to speaking the language used with older children is different compared to the language used with younger children. The language used with younger children isn’t as complex it is more broken down however the language with older children isn’t as they are able to understand without it needing to be broken down into sections. I noticed specially within maths and English that the language I use depending on the stage changes dramatically – for example, children in primary 1 don’t understand letters, A B C D, but rather letter sounds, a b c d, whereas the more you go up the school children are spelling with letters rather than sounds. Therefore, I found I had to change my language accordingly but also following the language that the teacher is using. Yet another thing I realised is that when speaking in front of a large group of people I find it difficult to give everyone eye contact however when I was talking to the children it tended to be in smaller groups which allowed me to give everyone eye contact which ensured all children felt included.
Area requiring progress
One area in which I feel I need to improve on is the volume of my voice as when I am speaking to the class I feel some may struggle to hear me especially when reading a book. When reading a book to the class I should quickly skim the book before telling it to the children or tell little parts at a time so that the children are able to hear the full story clearly and properly but also allows me to face the children and give eye contact but also get them involved by making facial expression. When it comes to speaking to the class I should practice speaking in a louder voice, projecting my voice so all are able to hear. Another area I feel I need to improve on is facing the class when speaking, I find it easier in groups however I feel in a bigger group it is harder to get all of the individuals attention hence I feel I need to improve on ways to keep the children engaged in what I am saying but also attention techniques which hand in hand will help make it easier when talking to  the children in a big group and will allow me to feel more confident facing them when I’m talking as I know I have their attention.
Action plan
So that I am able to speak clearly and loudly for my prestation but also for my next placement when speaking to the children I aim on practising speaking at different levels to see which best suit. I will also look into different attention techniques and try some out to see which work best to allow me to have the attention of the class during any time not just only when I am speaking.

During the last two weeks of school placement I have learned a lot about myself and the school enviroment. I was able to experience every level of the curriculum and allowed myself lots of time to reflect. This experience allowed me to gain new skills and experiences that will help me on my path to be coming the teacher that I want to be. I feel my confidence has grown in many ways from being able to talk infront of groups of children to being able to make conversation in the staff room. However, this experience allowed me to identify certain aspects of communication I need to work on. Overall, this experience has allowed me to reflect on all of my strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths

Over my time on placement I identified many strengths I have. One of my strengths was having good use of eye contact. From this I felt like I was able to ensure the pupils were listening and engaged in the conversation I was having with them. By engaging them I was able to make sure they were gaining the best quality of learning and that any “straglers” to the class were pulled right back in to the conversation. Another strength I identified was my use of body language. From day one in the school I made sure that my body languae showed that I was willing to learn and help further the education of the children. As I was so open this made it easy for children to come to me and ask me any questions they were stuck on. They saw me as a teacher figure when they’re own teacher was out the class.

Area of Most Progress

I personal felt like I most progressed on my confidence. Before going on placement I was very shy and always reluctent to answer questions during classes or offer my opinion. On placement I was able to communication and take the role as a leader in many group situations. I feel that this has helped me improve my confidence and I will no longer be as afraid to speak out infront of others.

Area Requiring Progress

One major area that I require progress in is making sure I use less filler words. Through out my placement i found myself stutter with my words and filling it in with “um” or “like”. I found in many cases this confused children and made it harder for them to understand my explanations. I also dicovered that I found it very difficult to stop certain children “taking over” group lessons. It would always be the same children leading and the same children sitting quietly. This would overall have an effect on the quieter childrens learning.

Action Plan

My action plan is to continue to work and focus on improving my weaknesses. I can continue to grow my confidence by practising speaking infront of large groups even if this is my friends or family. Also, I will try my best to make sure I am confident in what I am saying so I do not feel the need to add in filler words to support me. I aim to also use eye contact and good body language consistenly to ensure children that I get to teach are always engage in the lesson.

Throughout my 2 week placement I got the chance to visit four different classrooms to observe. Those were primary 1,3,5 and 6/7. From these classes I gathered a substantial amount of information when observing on communication from both the teachers and pupils. I also got the chance to receive my own communication feedback from a peer, teachers and self assessment.

From these experiences I managed to identify that in the verbal communication section one of my strengths is that I always have clear pronunciation of my words. This was recognised both by myself and my peer. For example in the primary 3 class many children asked me to spell out words to them, at these points i was able to break up the word to clearly pronounce the letter sounds and how those sounds blend to create the word. I know this was a strength as the children could successfully copy town my pronunciation of the word first time without needing to ask again.

On placement I also identified a weakness of mine within the non verbal section of communication such as eye contact. Throughout the period of placement my peer and teachers noticed that sometimes I struggle to maintain eye contact with the kids often when it’s one to one. I started to pick up on this myself as I noticed during the primary 6/7 maths task I looked away from a child to figure out the answer whilet still talking therefore the child didn’t really feel engaged as I wasn’t explaining to their faces I was speaking to the paper rather than the child themseleves. In order to improve this particular weakness of mines i am going to try my best to look at everyone in my group whilst doing both the practice oral assessment and the real oral assessment. I will practice in the mean time by presenting to friends and family without presenting my explanations to the ground or board I will try to engage the group with my eye contact.

overall, during placement I gathered lots of strengths and weakness I have within the communication section however these were the 2 that stood out to me most and that I also managed to pick out myself aswell as hearing it from peers and teachers.