After 3 weeks in school I feel settled. I had a chance to create relationships with my Mentor, teacher partner, support staff and most importantly the children. I have been teaching one to two lessons per day and have been observed weekly by my Mentor and once by my Headteacher.
I have received positive feedbacks so I am pleased that I have good management and organisational skills. I started feeling children's progression and I am now able to assess their prior knowledge through questioning and marking outcomes and then plan accordingly. It has been great when I am able to focus on children's learning rather than on my plan. Obviously I feel having a good and well structured plan is very helpful, making me feel secure and prepared but only when I am able to respond to what is really happening in the classroom my lesson has really good outcomes. It is important to follow children's own flow of learning, attending to their needs, and using their responses offering guidance and acceptance rather than a critical correction of any misconception. It is so important to keep a positive environment in the classroom, making it a place where children feel free to make mistakes and don't feel shy to participate and take risks. I can really see the difference when we're able to keep the enthusiasm.
This week was a training week spent at college. It helped me to understand where I am in this long process, the pathway to achieve QTS!!!
Positive outcomes:
It has deepen my subject knowledge but most of all has made me understand the national curriculum in a different way.
I can now see that it is the government's intention to offer an inclusive curriculum that promotes independent and personalised learning. I understand the importance of cross-curricular activities and the advantages of differentiation. The experience of school must be smooth and wholly connecting each year with a gentle and organic progression that keeps its high expectations.
Reflection:
It is interesting to be a learner when you're on the to become a teacher. This week I could feel how some of the strategies we use in classrooms worked for me. Looking back at the week I can see how all class discussions work so well in my learning and how most of the information I received was a result of collective thinking. I also noticed how a lesson can loose its pace and consequently a pupil (like me) can loose interest when an activity is too long or too boring (not for my age)...
I think overall it is interesting to be a learner again when you're trying to teach!
