REFLECTION ONE
REFLECTION ONE - 18/07/2010
My practicum starts tomorrow and to be honest, I’m a little bit nervous. There are so many things I would like to achieve and so many things that I could/would like to improve upon with my teaching.
There are some things that I specifically aim to improve that revolve around the teaching standards.
· I would like to improve on my classroom management techniques (Elements 2 and 5)
· I have to teach a subject I am not familiar with and therefore aim to improve my subject knowledge on that particular topic and teach it to the best of my ability (Element 1)
· I would also like to be an active member of the teaching community (Element 7)
One thing that I would like to work on during this practicum is classroom management. During one of the July sessions at uni, we were told about a few classroom management techniques we could use. I found these extremely helpful and I am going to try hard to implement these.
The classroom management techniques were nothing out of the ordinary really. They included dealing with a particularly “difficult” student after the rest of the class is settled. Talking to a disruptive student one on one can also be a helpful technique. I think something that is really important in relation to classroom management is knowing the students and how they learn to cater to their needs. This will hopefully keep students engaged and therefore less likely to disrupt the class.
Knowing students and how they learn is Element 2 of the Professional Teaching Standards. I think that it is extremely important to understand how students learn in different ways, students come to school with all different backgrounds, problems, advantages and families, and that each student has their own abilities or disabilities and their own interests.
I think that by understanding students will help being a good teacher as it will allow me to teach students in a way that is appealing to them. I think that it will also allow me to understand where the student is coming from and to be understanding of situations the students may be in.
During this practicum, I have a Geography class. I have not studied Geography since I was in high school so I am going to have to make sure I know the content thoroughly before I teach it. This relates to element 1 of the Teaching Standards. I am going to try my best to teach the subject of Geography and fulfil all syllabus outcomes in an interesting and interactive way.
I would also like to have effective communication with the teaching staff and create good relationships with them. I think that colleges are a very affective source of knowledge and help. It would be good to have different teacher input and knowledge to help shape my lessons so they are the best they can be.
Overall, I have 4 classes to teach and a homeroom to take. That means I have 150 student names to learn! I am going to have to work very hard on that.
There will be 4 more reflective statements to come during the term.
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Introduction Professional Profile Reflection One Reflection Two Reflection Three Reflection Four Reflection Five