Gleeson College Placement
Week 1
This week consisted of 2 days of teaching and then 3 days on the year 11 retreat. The retreat is already an absolute highlight of my practicum experience. It was great to see how teachers operate in that environment and how students behave as well. I gained so much from the experience professionally but also spiritually as I engaged deeply with the reflective activities of the retreat. It helped reaffirm my desire to be involved in educating young people and the importance of educating them about life. I was able to quickly become confortable in that environment and was confident in leading student groups through activities. I enjoyed building relationships with the students so I could communicate comfortably and confidently with them and had no issue correcting poor behaviour when I needed to. My mentor has been extremely supportive and provides and endless supply of great advice. I’m looking forward to next week where I can really get into the classroom and work on my skills in that area.
This week consisted of 2 days of teaching and then 3 days on the year 11 retreat. The retreat is already an absolute highlight of my practicum experience. It was great to see how teachers operate in that environment and how students behave as well. I gained so much from the experience professionally but also spiritually as I engaged deeply with the reflective activities of the retreat. It helped reaffirm my desire to be involved in educating young people and the importance of educating them about life. I was able to quickly become confortable in that environment and was confident in leading student groups through activities. I enjoyed building relationships with the students so I could communicate comfortably and confidently with them and had no issue correcting poor behaviour when I needed to. My mentor has been extremely supportive and provides and endless supply of great advice. I’m looking forward to next week where I can really get into the classroom and work on my skills in that area.
Week 2
This week has given me the opportunity to try some new things in the classroom. My mentor has been great in discussing and sharing ideas that I wasted no time implementing into my teaching. They didn’t all work perfectly but I was happy with the first attempts and with further refinement they can become increasingly effective in my teaching. Most of these strategies involved different ways of getting through a set text during class. My mentor set up a camera at the back of the room that took a snapshot every 45 seconds and then showed me the combined video after to investigate my movements in the classroom. This was very informative and gave me some things to think about for future lessons.
I finalised the design of an English and History assessment piece for my year 9 classes this week. My mentor was very happy with them so I am able to distribute them in the coming weeks with the intention of collecting and marking them before the end of term.
I am already more comfortable in the staff room and interacting with other teachers. I have organised to spend some time observing other teachers in the coming weeks to help broaden my idea of effective teaching and learning.
Friday consisted of a show day for the students and PD for the staff. It was held at CBC and involved finding God in the ordinary. I found this day quite eye-opening as the CEO of St Vincent De Pauls spoke to the staff about what they do and how we can help. I have decided to respond by clearing out my wardrobe and I now have two bags of clothes to donate.
This week has given me the opportunity to try some new things in the classroom. My mentor has been great in discussing and sharing ideas that I wasted no time implementing into my teaching. They didn’t all work perfectly but I was happy with the first attempts and with further refinement they can become increasingly effective in my teaching. Most of these strategies involved different ways of getting through a set text during class. My mentor set up a camera at the back of the room that took a snapshot every 45 seconds and then showed me the combined video after to investigate my movements in the classroom. This was very informative and gave me some things to think about for future lessons.
I finalised the design of an English and History assessment piece for my year 9 classes this week. My mentor was very happy with them so I am able to distribute them in the coming weeks with the intention of collecting and marking them before the end of term.
I am already more comfortable in the staff room and interacting with other teachers. I have organised to spend some time observing other teachers in the coming weeks to help broaden my idea of effective teaching and learning.
Friday consisted of a show day for the students and PD for the staff. It was held at CBC and involved finding God in the ordinary. I found this day quite eye-opening as the CEO of St Vincent De Pauls spoke to the staff about what they do and how we can help. I have decided to respond by clearing out my wardrobe and I now have two bags of clothes to donate.
Week 3
The first three days of this week were very liberating as my mentor was away so I operated with a relief teacher for this time. I felt a lot more independent and responsible for what went on in the classroom. Both the relief teachers I worked with asked me about some of my resources and how they could use them in the future, which was reassuring. My classes are moving into a phase where time will be devoted to completing assignments. I have made my expectations very clear with the students and they are aware that class time to work on assignments is a privilege that they would be wise not to abuse.
The class has been relatively on task with their assignments and I have spent a reasonable amount of time working with different students or small groups on specific aspects of the assessment and writing skills. The 135-minute lesson on Friday was a challenge but feedback from my mentor was really positive. I was constantly circling the room and assisting students whilst providing feedback. We had a stretch and a funny cat video break in between that the students really appreciated.
I have a number of interesting lessons to prepare for next week and some experimental activities to try out.
The first three days of this week were very liberating as my mentor was away so I operated with a relief teacher for this time. I felt a lot more independent and responsible for what went on in the classroom. Both the relief teachers I worked with asked me about some of my resources and how they could use them in the future, which was reassuring. My classes are moving into a phase where time will be devoted to completing assignments. I have made my expectations very clear with the students and they are aware that class time to work on assignments is a privilege that they would be wise not to abuse.
The class has been relatively on task with their assignments and I have spent a reasonable amount of time working with different students or small groups on specific aspects of the assessment and writing skills. The 135-minute lesson on Friday was a challenge but feedback from my mentor was really positive. I was constantly circling the room and assisting students whilst providing feedback. We had a stretch and a funny cat video break in between that the students really appreciated.
I have a number of interesting lessons to prepare for next week and some experimental activities to try out.
Week 4
This week I was able to test my marking skills with 2 assessment tasks submitted throughout the week. I got the marking done very quickly and asked my mentor to flick through and see how I went. The feedback was very positive from him and none of my marks were altered. There were a few issues of plagiarism, both plagiarising each other and online resources. This is something I addressed with the students individually as required and gave offending students the opportunity to hand up their own work the next day. It became very apparent that there were a number of areas that the whole class needed to improve so I prepared a half lesson to go through these focus areas for the future. I also did a double lesson on the Titanic that the students seemed to enjoy. We looked at the timeline of events with the students being required to order the events on their own timeline from a jumble of events. The students then had a number of focus questions to facilitate some independent research, an area I noticed they weren’t strong in. Finally we watched the last 30 minutes of Titanic the film to unwind at the end of a long day and a long week.
I’m looking forward to trying some new things next week as I have some exciting activities prepared.
This week I was able to test my marking skills with 2 assessment tasks submitted throughout the week. I got the marking done very quickly and asked my mentor to flick through and see how I went. The feedback was very positive from him and none of my marks were altered. There were a few issues of plagiarism, both plagiarising each other and online resources. This is something I addressed with the students individually as required and gave offending students the opportunity to hand up their own work the next day. It became very apparent that there were a number of areas that the whole class needed to improve so I prepared a half lesson to go through these focus areas for the future. I also did a double lesson on the Titanic that the students seemed to enjoy. We looked at the timeline of events with the students being required to order the events on their own timeline from a jumble of events. The students then had a number of focus questions to facilitate some independent research, an area I noticed they weren’t strong in. Finally we watched the last 30 minutes of Titanic the film to unwind at the end of a long day and a long week.
I’m looking forward to trying some new things next week as I have some exciting activities prepared.
Week 5
This week was an enjoyable one. I experimented with a new simulation game designed to portray the significance of indigenous displacement in South Australia. I thought it went well from a learning perspective but didn’t evoke the level of empathy I was hoping for. I have since discussed this with my mentor where we brainstormed ideas to improve that aspect of the activity in the future. Following this my week was largely focussed on reflection. I spent time with my mentor going through the various aspects of my report and I was very pleased with his feedback and comments. They’re flattering, supportive and really reaffirming of my career choice. I had the pleasure of taking my Year 9 class for their last lesson of the term. Understanding the situation we played games and had some fun after we had returned our books and other quick errands. I’ve greatly enjoyed working with the class and have built positive working relationships with all the students.
This week was an enjoyable one. I experimented with a new simulation game designed to portray the significance of indigenous displacement in South Australia. I thought it went well from a learning perspective but didn’t evoke the level of empathy I was hoping for. I have since discussed this with my mentor where we brainstormed ideas to improve that aspect of the activity in the future. Following this my week was largely focussed on reflection. I spent time with my mentor going through the various aspects of my report and I was very pleased with his feedback and comments. They’re flattering, supportive and really reaffirming of my career choice. I had the pleasure of taking my Year 9 class for their last lesson of the term. Understanding the situation we played games and had some fun after we had returned our books and other quick errands. I’ve greatly enjoyed working with the class and have built positive working relationships with all the students.
Final Reflection
This has been an excellent experience. I was fortunate to have an outstanding mentor who guided and supported me throughout my placement. I firmly believe I am ready to teach and the feedback from my mentor reflects this also. I have had the ability to experiment with new teaching ideas and refine these throughout my placement. I believe the students have learnt from me and had fun doing it. This experience has certainly reaffirmed my career choice. I have greatly enjoyed this time and found it very rewarding to see the progress many of the students have made.
This has been an excellent experience. I was fortunate to have an outstanding mentor who guided and supported me throughout my placement. I firmly believe I am ready to teach and the feedback from my mentor reflects this also. I have had the ability to experiment with new teaching ideas and refine these throughout my placement. I believe the students have learnt from me and had fun doing it. This experience has certainly reaffirmed my career choice. I have greatly enjoyed this time and found it very rewarding to see the progress many of the students have made.