April Log

So we’re now less than 3 months until the end of my placement! As well as celebrating my birthday in April, just a week I also had my debut of leading the class! I taught maths starter for 20 minutes. After liaising with the class teacher we both agreed it would be a great opportunity for me to gain experience in actually leading part of a lesson. I based it on the topic they were doing earlier that week which was negative numbers, by having an online interactive activity to do with temperature and thermometers. I was quite nervous at first but knowing the class, and them knowing me, gave me a touch of confidence, as they had a rather excited reaction when the class teacher told them I would be teaching the starter. Teaching the starter was an interesting experience, it felt so different to be working from the front of the class rather than from the back or sitting amongst the children’s tables. Usually being the extra pair of eyes in the class you can spot ever so easily when a child is distracted, but trying to keep an eye out for that, at the same time as giving a good delivery to the eyes and faces peering at you takes some serious multitasking! Having the kids already know about the topic, was a definite help, because it meant that it was an activity they would feel comfortable and confident having a go at, even if I hadn’t explained it clearly, having done negative number related work over the past couple days. I think the real task would be teaching a new topic from scratch, where the delivery would need to be clear and accurate for them to be able to grasp the idea and learn from me. However, before I do that I plan to teach a starter again, perhaps in Grammar. The feedback from the teacher was really helpful so hopefully I can improve next time.

The LSA’s and staff had training on Science this month which was quite a fun and interactive session, with lots of sorting and questions to get your brain going. It tackled a lot of statements we make that might not be scientifically true and reminded us of the importance of using the correct language with children to make them understand. Sometimes it was statements you wouldn’t think twice about like leaving the children to believe that the sugar disappears when put in hot tea, when really it dissolves and doesn’t disappear because it’s still there!

I've also been making a real push this term to be more cosistent with those I take out for Interventions or IEPs (Individual Learning Plans). Even leading those kind of sessions contribute to my experience and growth in delivering to the whole class. It's also been amazing to have that consistency with the kids knowing the routine of coming out of class with me and the expectations I have when working with them. It's nice to know that entering the final parts of my placement I'm still taking steps to build and develop on what I'm learning.