Introduction
On the week beginning the 31st of October, I had my week of placement in a local primary school and had the privilege of seeing first hand, the many different challenges that come about when it comes to being a teacher.
At the start of the placement I felt very nervous, and was not quite sure what to expect as I was getting prepared for the week ahead. But as the days progressed, I began to feel more at ease and could observe the situations which were within the placement tasks that we had been asked to complete. The tasks were useful, as they allowed me to observe real situations within a classroom and gave me a greater understanding of the potential obstacles that I could face later in my career.
One of the most important things that I learnt during my placement week, is that no matter how much you plan for something, you can never plan enough. This showed me that organisation and structure is a key asset when it comes to being a teacher.
Strength
I would say that one of my personal strengths that I discovered more during placement was my variation of pitch and tone when it came to communicating with individuals during the week. I learned that it is necessary to be able to distinguish between communicating with an individual one on one, in a smaller group or when talking to the class. The evidence that I can use to support this idea is that when I spoke to the teacher in private I spoke with a quiet tone and slightly fast pace, whereas when it came to speaking to the pupils in a smaller group I spoke with a much clearer and louder tone and spoke at a much slower pace; to make sure that they understood the activity which was being discussed at the time.
I feel that the way in which you communicate is very important as if you speak too fast for a pupil then they may not understand what is being said. Also, tone can affect the clarity of your speech and thus must be at the right level to help get across the point you are trying to make.
Area for Improvement
Whilst on placement, I learnt that as an individual, my facial expressions are one of the areas that I feel I could work further upon. I noticed this especially when it came to working within smaller groups, during their activities. I felt personally that I was not using enough facial expressions when it came to getting across both positives and negatives, as they tend to help stress points further. I have never been one to portray my personal feelings using expressions well and tend to just say what I feel instead.
Action Plan for Improvement
My personal plan is to try and use more facial expressions with other older individuals and gather their feedback. From there I could transfer the skills that I start to strengthen and put them into practice, with the younger individuals from my coaching back in Glasgow, as it will allow provide me a similar situation to teaching in a classroom (although it may not be quite as intense).
Conclusion
This placement was a real eye-opener into what the world of teaching is like and even though it was stressful at times, it gave me a proper feel of what I will be experiencing in my later career, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time. It allowed me to reflect upon my skills and what I need to further improve upon to advance myself as an academic. I feel that if we had more time than a week, then it would allow us to be able to make further observations and learn more about ourselves, however, I understand that it may be difficult to arrange for more than one week. Overall placement has me excited and ready to continue further into this course and the challenges that may come with it.
