Placement allowed for me to go further down my path towards becoming a teacher. Whilst out on placement, I learned so much as to what teachers do on a daily basis and what their routines consist of.
Prior to starting placement, I was slightly nervous however, my excitement took over me. I had my placement file prepared before starting. I then met the school’s deputy head teacher, where myself and the other student I was on placement with got a tour around the school. I was informed that there are over 400 pupils within the school, this thought scared me as I wondered how I would possibly learn names. Despite the size of the school, I still managed to find my way about.
A strength which I easily identified within myself came from my communication with the children. I found that I was really strong at varying my volume, pitch and tone of voice. Whilst being with the primary one pupils, I found my HNC in Early Education and Childcare came in very handy when reading, as character voices were very important during my time out on placement last year. I also feel changing my language to suit different age ranges was a strength of mine, especially when being with the primary 1’s and primary 2’s due to me doing the HNC and knowing what level of language the children are coming up from.
An area for improvement I have identified is to prevent myself from using the word “like” when explaining activities and tasks to children. I hadn’t realised how often I had said this until I completed my two self-evaluations. I will aim to stop myself from saying this as it sounds very colloquial during conversation.
Overall, placement is so crucial on the journey to becoming a teacher. I enjoyed every moment of my placement as the school were so welcoming. However, I wish the placement in first year was for a longer period of time. I have wanted to be a teacher since I have been in primary 4 myself, my placement has fully enforced that this is the career which is perfectly suited to me.
