Strengths
An area of strength for me within placement was having the ability to engage children in their work and use an appropriate level of communication and language that the children understood. I was given the opportunity to take small groups of children out and help them improve their reading, this involved focusing the children on the task ahead and ensuring that anyone who was struggling was able to get the support that they needed. This required me to be patient which is also one of my strengths which became evident throughout placement. It became clear that the children were at different levels with their reading and some took longer to read their sentences than others. This gave me the opportunity to practice being patient with the pupils and not put them under any pressure to read faster.
Area of Most Progress
Each day within my time at placement my confidence grew, this is my area of most progress as in such a short space of time I was able to create many positive relationships with both the pupils and staff at the school. I became increasingly involved in both the classroom environment and the staffroom environment, offering any support and guidance and having everyday conversations with teachers. I became more confident within myself and my ability to help the pupils.
Area of Requiring Progress
My area of requiring progress that I recognised from placement is needing to focus more on involving non participating pupils. Although one of my strengths was engaging pupils and keeping them focused on their work, some of the pupils from the class I observed would become very distracted and often not participate in lessons. An area for me to focus on would be discovering strategies on how to focus these pupils and get them involved in the class discussions and group tasks. Another area that requires progress is learning different ways of helping children with their maths questions, it became clear to me that some children were struggling with the basic concepts and I also struggled with alternative ways of helping them.
Action Plan
I plan on continuing my strengths and working on the areas that were highlighted to me by my peer and the teacher observing me as areas for development. I will also offer support to others in my course if one of my areas of strength has been identified as one of their areas for development, in turn I will also seek advice from others in my course who may be able to share some tips on how to meet my targets.
