This is a biggie. It's a
reflection on my 4-week mini placement in school in winter term, before we
pulled out the big guns and I was launched into a 4-month placement from
January until May. This is possibly my favourite blog to reflect on - how sweet
and innocent I once was.
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My experience on mini-block has
left me in an excellent position to start the main block placement - I feel
clear about my targets and what I need to improve on, and have more confidence
in my own ability as a trainee teacher.
There is truly no substitute
for being in school day in, day out, and following the progression of your
students on a regular basis. I was truly plunged into the deep end, as I taught
my first lesson on my second day of the four week mini-block placement. I was
not given the opportunity to teach starters or plenaries discretely, as my
mentor wanted me to experience taking over 2 classes as if I were their teacher
for the rest of the term. This taught me one of the many lessons I learned
about 'teacher presence'. Coming from a performing arts background, I learned
on mini-block that I could use the presentation skills I'd gained from this to
convey a confident approach to my classes - establishing my own 'teacher
presence'. Teaching a 6 lesson sequence to Year 8, and an 8 lesson sequence to
Year 7, with no experience of any teaching contact with those classes before,
was truly intimidating. However, I am grateful to my mentor for recognising
that I needed to be removed from my comfort zone if I was to establish
confidence and authority in the classroom.
It would have been impossible
for me to take on 6 hours teaching a week immediately had I not been fortunate
enough to observe excellent practice across a range of subject areas beforehand
(on Tuesdays and Thursdays). A particular highlight was watching the use of ICT
in the Science labs to show how hydrocarbons bond - the students were extremely
proficient at using animation, which I found astounding and hope to capitalise
on in my new placement (particularly as I will have an IWB this time around!).
Behaviour management was consistently excellent across all lessons I observed,
particularly that of the Head of Maths. He was a real lesson in how to plan for
positive behaviour, rather than use it punitively. He circulated almost
constantly throughout the lesson, had prepared all his resources far in
advance, and used ICT and games to make the lesson really engaging. Some of the
pupils in that lesson were in my form, and I had seen how many 'red' comments
they were given in their planner on a weekly basis - but the Maths lesson was
so well-planned and executed in such a comfortable environment that there were
no problems. I believe that the excellent behaviour management I observed was
the main reason why my own behaviour management was far better than I had
anticipated it to be, and was rooted in planning for positive behaviour.
The challenges of teaching 2
full SOWs, as well as team teaching Year 9 twice a week, and running weekly Y13
revision sessions, were issues with time management. I learned to plan
effectively by using resources that already existed within the department,
although I still need to improve this if I am planning on sleeping at all
before June. I am very grateful that I was given a relatively intense teaching
load on mini-block - knowing that I did in fact manage to teach 7-8hours a week
makes me feel slightly less apprehensive about taking on a half timetable
during main block. However, there are some areas of my planning that need to be
seriously improved and I will dedicate the time to making sure these are
achieved. For example, my differentiation is not as strong as it should be and
I often felt like not all of the class were making as much progress as
possible. I am lucky to be going to a school which is fully mixed-ability, as
this will necessitate that my differentiation improves, and I will be able to
learn from strong practitioners in this field.
Another issue with teaching 2
SOWs was that I had no knowledge of one of the topics, and very little
knowledge of the other (English Civil War and Norman Conquest respectively). It
was a steep learning curve about time management - I could not afford to spend
days researching each topic as I would have done at university. I had to learn
to use existing resources and educational books and websites to boil the topic
down to the essentials. This was frustrating for me as I have a tendency to
want to know absolutely everything before I stand in front of a class to teach
it. However, my mentor assured me that the knowledge would come cumulatively,
with time, and was generous enough to give me a whole pack of resources that he
had created to help me to have some frame of reference for unfamiliar topics.
I really enjoyed getting
involved in the wider life of the school and hope to continue this at my next
school. It was wonderful to help at Drama Club and share my personal passion
with pupils, as well as getting to know them outside of the classroom. In
particular, this helped me to connect with a troublesome Year 9 pupil and
manage his behaviour more effectively in my classes. I was also very lucky to
work with an excellent Y8 form tutor, who was generous enough to let me take
charge of the form for 3 of the 4 weeks of mini-block. He was almost like a second
mentor, helping me to understand the daily admin of school life - money for
trips, letters home and so on. He also gave me the opportunity to teach PHSE
and Citizenship to the form, as well as run Literacy Circles, check planners,
and organise the Y8 stall at the Xmas Fair. I have always seen myself as a more
'academic' sort of teacher, but thanks to the experience of becoming a form
tutor for 3 weeks, I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the pastoral care
side of school life just as much as the history side.
I learned so much on mini-block
that it is impossible to articulate it all. I have worked harder and more
intensely than I have ever done in my life, but with excellent support from my
mentor and my 'second mentor' in form time. I learned the value of
collaboration and of learning from colleagues through observation and asking
advice. Most importantly, and something that ties teaching together for me, is
the importance of getting to know the pupils you teach. It is this that I am
most excited about for main block, as the longer placement will allow a greater
connection to the pupils I teach.
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