Activities for unit 1 Personal and Interpersonal Skills and Abilities
- Identifying Skills and Abilities
Activity 1
- Below are a list of skills and abilities. Complete an audit of where you are now. Record this in your learning journal/portfolio.
Rate yourself (1=Not very well developed; 3=very well developed)
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Skills and Abilities |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Self Discipline |
X |
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Listen to others |
X |
||
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Contribute to discussions |
X |
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Team Work |
X |
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Use Technology |
X |
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Computing Skills |
X |
||
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Organise and Plan |
X |
Activity 2
- Complete the audit below, using the information from the table above.
|
Recognition |
Reflection |
Action |
|
Skills already developed |
How I will use these |
How do I know (evidence)** |
|
Self Discipline |
This skill will help me to use my time effectively. Where I am aware of the tasks and deadlines that are set allowing me to prioritise, knowing what work should be done first and how long I can/should spend of each task. I feel as though self discipline is very important in terms of studying and learning as you should know; when you should be studying, how long you should be studying for, the difference between effective studying and wasting time studying without full commitment/concentration and when to take breaks to allow full concentration. Personally I find this is very important in terms of becoming a teacher as I should be aware of my actions within the classroom and towards children. It’s important to understand any mistakes made and work on them to improve and it is also important to take into account comments others make on areas they feel like I should develop. Self discipline will help keep a balance when in the classroom; it will keep me on track of the lesson however allow certain times of distraction and discussion of various subjects with the children. This skill I feel will be used effectively and will help me throughout my studies and career. | |
|
Listen to Others |
Listening to others is such an important skill which I feel over my years of; being in a large family with different individuals, being in a group of friends who have different interests and opinions, being in schools and nurseries where children told me their stories frequently and being a buddy in school where young individuals relied on me for help and advice has actually highlighted to me that I enjoy listening to others. As i enjoy this I find listening to others is a skill which is very natural to me. It’s something which i find i engage in very well due to the fact i care for anyone who has had the courage to ask questions, seek advice or simply tell a story. This is important in terms of my studies as through out my course I am constantly being informed with new information and opinions by my lecturers and peers, where I have to listen intently and think critically about their views/comments on all areas of the course. I also feel this is an important skill when becoming a teacher as it is important to have an open mind with all children. Many children will come into class with questions, stories, fears, opinions, problems etc. where I will be able to listen carefully to what they have to say allowing me to reply appropriately. This will also allow all the children in my class to feel comfortable when speaking out, allowing everyone to embrace their voice. This will help me develop these children into young confident individuals who realise their voice is important. | |
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Team Work |
Team work is something that will be very important when working as a teacher. Personally I feel as though a class itself is a team where I’m part of it as much as the children therefore being able to work together is very important. My experience at Columba 1400 enhanced my skills when working in a team as we learned a lot about ourselves and each other while being there. This is how I view a class as we will be with each other for a long period of time allowing us to get to know each other very well. Children will get to know me as their teacher as much as I’ll get to know them as pupils. It highlighted to me how important it is to allow everyone a voice, whether that’s in the context of them voicing their opinions through vocal communication or written communication or even just carrying out tasks where they’re the leader. I find this will impact the way my classroom will work on a weekly basis as I think it’s important to hear every child and make sure they know they’re significant within our team therefore I’ll make sure this happens in a way which will suit the children. Also Columba 1400 highlighted to me the importance of being able to question others opinions in a respectful manner rather than ignoring something I don’t agree with. I feel as though this will be very important in terms of working with my colleges and parents as it will help build stronger bonds with better communication which will create a stronger, more pleasant relationship where we will work as a team. This is important as we all have the same interests at heart- the children. | |
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Organise and Plan |
Through my mum organising and planning it has been a very natural thing for me to do. Growing up close to her allowed me to pick up her habits of always; writing down dates and times, planning out meals, planning out our night time routines and simple things like shopping lists. These were all things she done almost everyday however there was still a large amount of flexibility with her organisation as she knew it involved myself and my siblings therefore she knew there would be complications and changes. Having a rough outline of what she had to do, when she had to do them helped get everything done. I have used these skills throughout my whole life. They started to develop more in my 4th year in school as I began to get ready for exams with deadlines and personal commitments meaning I used them more. Juggling my school work with my job allowed me to use these skills where I organised my time efficiently and planned out my days. I found I planned most days with rough times of certain things that I had to do which I actually didn’t think about. It’s only when I came to university that I realised how organised I actually am and how it will help my class hugely. Not only will it help with my time in university but also my time as a teacher as it’ll mean I’ll be on task with what I should be teaching and making sure the children get the work complete in certain time frames but it will mean the classroom will be a healthy environment with little stress as there will be structure in the classroom. In my experience with children when there’s structure children are normally more comfortable. |
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Recognition |
Reflection |
Action |
| Skills to be developed | How I will develop these |
How do I know (evidence) ** |
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Contribute to discussions |
I will develop this skill by bringing forward my own opinions and thoughts when in lectures and groups of new people. I tend to listen to others when in discussions rather than voicing my own thoughts however if I persevere and try to voice my thoughts regularly then this will help grow my confidence and make me more comfortable when contributing to discussions. As at the moment I feel I can contribute to discussions when in certain groups I just don’t do it often enough, or in bigger groups. However in recent years as I’ve met more people and had many more discussions with people I have realised that contributing to discussions is very important and it helps lead onto a deeper discussion. Throughout my study at university I will continue to push myself to contribute more when in different tasks and environments. | |
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Use Technology |
Personally I am not a very confident person when it comes to using technology therefore I don’t tend to us it. As technology is growing and is shown to be very useful in classrooms where almost every child knows how to use some for of technology this is a skill I’m working on developing. I will work on improving this by using my laptop to; take notes, write up thoughts, read online books, communicate with others and for most of my tasks given in class. This will allow me to learn how to use different software in technology. I have also just set up a Facebook and a Twitter account for the first time where my friends and family are helping me learn how to use them. Using these on my phone and laptop will help me develop my skills when using technology. This is an important skill which I’ll continue to work on developing and improving, asking for help when I feel I need clarification. I will also use my Eportfolio as much as possible, posting my thoughts and opinions on the different topics we learn about during class. This will improve my skills as it is something I have never used before. It will be challenging to use to begin with however my aim is to learn from the mistakes or questions I come across when using it. I hope to be comfortable when using my Eportfolio in the next few years of this course where my skills will be a lot more advanced than what they are at this moment in time. | |
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Computing Skills |
Computing is a subject which I always avoiding during my time at school as I was never comfortable when using computers or any software. However this is something I will work on and challenge myself with to help improve my skills. I have found downloading and using different software for my notes will help me develop my skills. I have started to make my own power points and spreadsheets for personal use where I am learning new techniques from Youtube tutorials and from asking my siblings. Even playing games with my little brother is helping me develop my computing skills as he uses various techniques when playing his games which he has been/will continue to show me. This is an important skill which I feel is necessary for me to develop as it is such a significant part of being a teacher. |
** This section should be completed as you identify when/where/how you have used/developed these skills.
