I feel as though my placement and time at XXXX College has been a positive experience that has helped to further develop my skills and abilities as a teacher. I feel as though I am well on the way to becoming a competent and effective teacher in my chosen fields of expertise.
My focus for my placement this time was not so much finding confidence in myself but learning and implementing different classroom and behaviour management strategies, in particular finding something that suits my style and of course the group, I work with. To enable this, I stepped outside my learning and subject area and reached out to other teachers to observe their class, Religion, English, History, Science and Research Project. Through this, I was able to see how different subjects and teacher management their own classroom and find adapt things I had observed when the opportunity arose in my class the following lesson or day. I also sought to understand the curriculum of both senior and junior schools, through program development, looking at school resources and asking following up questions. I was also involved in some marking of a timed assessment in Stage 1 Religion Studies. I also participated in college life to the fullest engaging in Student Voice, Junior Relay for Life, School Masses and Year 12 Farewells. I feel this enabled me to get a sense of the true culture of XXXX College and truly understand the community I am working in. I feel getting to know the community is an important aspect of a teacher starting out in a new school. I feel also as though forming a professional relationship with my Mentor enabled my experience to be as positive as it has been and also enabled me to learn as much as I can about the role of a teacher not just in the classroom but administratively. Strengths: I have identified the following as points that I have been able to continue the development of and identify these as strengths or positives as this point in my journey.
Limitations: At my current stage I need to work on the following areas to improve and develop my practice as a teacher.
I feel as though if I continue on the path I have been with my development as a teacher, I can be successful and engage students and have them be successful. The experience at XXXX has been wonderful and I as aforementioned I have learnt so much and will take so much away for use in my effective practice. XXXX College is a private co-educational Catholic College situated in the North Eastern suburbs of Adelaide and is part of a three-campus initiative which includes XXXX High School (Government School) and XXXX (Christian School). The cultural background of the student population is comprised predominately of students with Anglo-Saxon and European heritage. The socio-economic background of the students is mainly middle income. The school is an active part of the community, involving students in various after-school sport, open nights, external work experience and community service activities. My practicum specifically included:
Comments from my Mentor Teacher and the Site Director can be seen below.
Following thread, Professional Reflection, will be used to document my journey on my last three placements within my Bachelor of Secondary Education.
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