Reflection on Placement

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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.