Background Information My final practicum as a student teacher was conducted in a middle class primary school in a suburb south of Perth. The well-established school continues to grow significantly each year, due to its community reputation as an all-round good school to send your kids. Not only is it a well-resourced school, abound with knowledgeable and supportive teachers, there is a perceived strong culture of inclusivity as the school welcomes students of all backgrounds, abilities and conditions; proving to provide a multi-cultural and diverse experience for all.
Arriving in the year 7 class, I was welcomed instantly by the two class teachers, the 28 students and team of learning support staff. It didn't take me long to learn the students names or get my head around the daily routines or official school formalities; and before long I was feeling very comfortable in the class and school in general, and confident taking on most of the classes. The school has specialist teachers for music, physical education, science and extension maths (which a number of my students attended), however all other subjects, being English, Maths, Health, Technology and Enterprise, History, Fitness, and Drama were programmed and in my hands for the entirety of my prac. One of my students had autism and an EA 0.6 of the time. Despite working to an IEP, effort was made to educate the student in an inclusive and supportive environment.
My comfortableness and confidence went from strength to strength as my teaching was continually refined through the challenges of teaching and essential reflection process. The students were mostly eager to learn and responsive to my teachings, which saw them produce some excellent work, always flavoured with their unique expression and take on life. They maturely approached activities whether collaborative or independent in nature, working to clearly and openly share their interpretation of the task and ensuing final product, be it in the form of an animation, story, or test of some description.
As part of the experienced improvement in teaching, came the accompanying improvement in behaviour management. Being an area requiring a lot of attention, the largely well behaved class meant my platform for developing and exploring behaviour management strategies was somewhat forgiving. Management plans that reflected my teaching philosophy as well as being effective were able to unfold along a gentle learning curve, allowing me to clearly state expectations and consequences to the class and work with misbehaviour confidently and appropriately. There were many planned and unplanned activities occurring at the school whilst on prac. This only added to the school experience by providing variety and a snap shot of how things really are in a school, highlighting the need to be flexible in all aspects of learning. My experiences on PIP: PI were all very positive and I can say that now even about the more challenging ones! I am happy with the level of effort in which I carried out my prac, and am thrilled with the progress of the students but also of myself as a teacher, and received feedback to reflect this; which is all the more confirming my desire and readiness to enter the world of teaching.
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