Over the past two weeks, I have been on my very first Primary School placement as a university student. It was a very enjoyable and rewarding yet also challenging experience. It certainly opened my eyes to the different levels of learning and also the struggles some children face in education. The placement really helped me identify my strengths and also my areas of development which will help me in the future as I can overcome them.
STRENGTH:
A strength that I identified during my two week placement was that I am very enthusiastic. When speaking to the children from P1-P7, I made sure that I was showing interest in what they were saying to me. For example, if a child was telling me about their work in a lesson I would ensure I would listen and ask questions etc. When a child would get an answer correct I would congratulate them and give them a little bit of praise so they could keep up the good work. When children got questions wrong, some would get upset and angry at themselves – for example, one girl said to me “I’m so stupid” just because she got a question wrong – but I ensured them its alright and explained how they would do the question to get the right answer. Once they done the question correctly they felt relived and happy. I always ensured I approached every child with a warm welcoming smile. In the playground I always encouraged children to be active and where acceptable be involved – for example, one day me and some learning support workers brought out the parachute and played games with the children using it.
AREA OF MOST PROGRESS:
The area which I identified as having the most progress over the two week placement experience was my confidence. Although I do see myself as a confident person, stepping into a new environment my confidence levels are not as high as they normally are. At the start of the two weeks I was scared incase I would say the wrong thing to staff and pupils. I was scared and nervous to ask teachers for help in the beginning but as the days went on my confidence levels began to increase and I felt more comfortable in the ‘new’ environment. My confidence levels did see a lot of progress but it is something I believe I can work on so my confidence is at its highest all the time.
AREA REQUIRING PROGRESS:
An area which I think I still need to work on is the hiding of my emotions. I am a person who finds it hard to hide their emotions which can be challenging when working with children. For example, if I was annoyed at a child it would be difficult for me to hide this or if I got on with a child more than the other I would also find it hard to hide this which could portray favouritism in the class and could affect other children’s learning. As the days went on I learnt to treat every child as equals but I think I can still work on this in the future as it does need a lot of progress still.
ACTION PLAN:
Going forward I plan on working on my confidence levels and hiding my emotions. I believe, the only way this can be achieved is through time and experience. Putting myself in situations I normally wouldn’t put myself in to step out my comfort zone will really help build my confidence levels.
