Overview

The night before on the Sunday I was feeling very apprehensive and anxious for going on the placement on Monday morning. I was worried about what the children and staff would think of me and if I would give off the professional but fun side that I wanted to show them. I was fretting about the placement tasks and if I would get them all completed. I worried about giving off a keen attitude by what I was wearing and my attitude when meeting these new people. Basically, I was worrying and working myself over everything and anything. I told myself that I was preparing for the worst case scenario but really I was just panicking myself over ‘what ifs.’ However, as I approached the school with barely any cars in it due to how early I had arrived, I knew that deep down I should not worry and embrace everything and enjoy every moment as it was going to be my only placement for this year.

 

As I walked through the automatic doors I got a lovely welcome from the receptionist and some other staff that were strolling in at the same time as me. As I waited for my partner from UWS that would be experiencing this placement with me I was made to feel extremely welcome. Every parent and teacher or staff gave me a big warm Monday morning smile and a big ‘hello’. Not one had the Monday morning blues. As I met more staff I began to feel more confident due to how nice they were being around me. All my worries began to fade and from that point on and I embraced every opportunity I was given.

 

Strengths

I would say a major strength that I had was showing a real and genuine interest in the school and the life of a teacher. I arrived from half past eight everyday so I could see how a teacher set up and prepared themselves for the day ahead. I stayed later at night so I could see what a teacher does at the end of the school day when the pupils leave after the bell. I made sure to ask if there were any after school clubs so I could see how they functioned and how the teacher managed them. I asked if I could see the upper school for a morning so I could experience what the older section of the school was like. This would give me the experience of seeing how a class functioned for a whole week but also what the older children did in the upper section of the school. When asked to take groups or take a morning lesson I strived out my comfort zone and took what I could get. The teacher even praised how eager I was to get involved and try things and really put myself in the teacher’s shoes. The way I spoke to the children was also praised as I maintained eye-contact and showed real interests when the children would speak to me. My peer evaluation showed that when talking to the children I was good at giving clear instructions by having a clear and loud voice. I was good at making sure that all the children equally got a fair chance of speaking which was another real strength as every child got an equal and fair chance to answer questions that I asked so no one was left out and no one was dominating conversation.

 

Areas of Most Progress

I would say that I progressed mainly on throwing myself in the deep end and getting involved with everything I could. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone especially when talking to staff. I asked questions which I thought were a bit boring and were small-talk like. However, asking these questions must have showed that I was interested in the staff and school as it usually led to a follow-up question and generated real interesting conversations/discussions. The staff made me feel like I was one of team and talked to me like a normal teacher which helped me develop my social skills and really learn how rewarding but also how difficult it can be having teaching as a career choice. I feel I can socially get more involved with teaching staff now and have moved on from dreading of going into the staffroom. I now feel more confident throwing myself into more things out-with my comfort zone.

 

Areas Requiring Most Progress

I would say that I really need to improve upon the tone I use when speaking to the children. This is because when telling such things as stories or role playing characters I do not seem very interesting or enthusiastic due to not varying the pitch and tone of my voice. However, as I discussed this with my peer mentor about mid-week, I tried to improve upon this for the next time we did story telling. It was very successful as I changed the pitch and tone which made the children very engaged and stopped them from becoming disengaged. I also need to ensure that I focus on every member of the group and not just focus on the ones who are engaged as I had a tendency to block out the ones that were distracted and not listening.

 

Action Plan

I need to demonstrate and take on board what my individual strengths and weaknesses are. I will be sure to make good use of Angela’s communication workshops where she helps provide things like storytelling to enhance and develop such things as pitch and tone when telling the story. I will also be more conscious when talking to my friends that I vary my tone and pitch and do not sound too mono-tone. I will practice reading books aloud to myself and others to see if there are any variants positively and negatively in the tone and pitch I display.

 

Conclusions

I had an excellent time on placement and had absolutely nothing to worry about.  I put myself out my comfort zone to experience the full life ideas of being a teacher and what career I am going into and I am so glad I did. I am just very thankful I had a modern school to see modern-day teaching. I am also very thankful and taken-back how welcoming and lovely staff were at my school. I hope that all my placements are as positive as this as I really had a wonderful time and I was sad to leave the children, staff and school at the end of the week. Role on year two placement!